The Laws of Life student essay contest, now in it’s seventh year, once again demonstrated how the strength of any community partnership is revealed within the hearts and minds of the students and through the dedication of staff to something bigger than any one person can realize.

The 7 th annual event was nearly cancelled due to the elimination of all state funding for character education, a change in leadership, and a required tripling of the participating grade levels in order to satisfy the John Templeton Foundation sponsorship and grant. The transition was difficult, confusing, revealing and in the end, rewarding.

Transition may be defined as an event that results in a transformation, much like moving from one key to another in music. The reconstituted LOL committee feared the song moving from a major key to a minor key.

The students, parents and teachers however, were creating and performing “new songs” at their local awards events and to the delight of the community, created a beautiful symphony of essays at the district program.

The new LOL committee, building on the work created by the previous LOL team, revisited the original concept of the Templeton initiative and revitalized the focus in establishing all their efforts through the lens of core ethical values. This focus dramatically improved the ethical quality of our decisions, and the district event demonstrated this beautifully.

What is seen as good and purposeful often gets done. The first meeting last fall of the LOL committee realized we had no funding in planning this years event. So many people answered the call and to you we are grateful and honored by your dedication to the moral development of the children of Plainfield. A complete listing of our sponsors is available in the LOL booklet.

The 7 th annual LOL essay program CD now contains over 800 student essays reflecting on their personal laws of life. We look forward to continuing the LOL program for 2008 and the committee honors all the students for writing essays of moral conscience. Thank you for making a successful transition this year with your songs of hope, respect, caring, trust, fairness and citizenship.

As Oscar Hammerstein once wrote:

“It’s a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought,

That if you become a teacher, by your pupils you’ll be taught.

Steve Missal and the 2007 Laws of Life Committee